Chapter 11
CHAPTER ELEVEN
L iam
Today has been a good day. I search the starlit sky as I lay on top of my sleeping bag beside the dwindling fire.
I can't stop thinking about a few key moments. One, the shock of coming face-to-face with a more-gorgeous-than-ever Ashley Chen. And the time we spent together while I grilled the burgers and she prepared the beans. My body flashes with heat as I recall what it felt like to wrap my hand around her wrist. So small, so silky, so… her . I could blindly identify that wrist in a lineup; I know it. Along with that scent of hers. Still apple, only now there’s a bit of spice in there, too. She must be using a similar body spray all these years later.
I give in to a chuckle when I replay the whole incident with her chipped teeth. It was horrible, of course. I worried she’d be in pain and maybe even have to leave. Turns out the injuries weren’t close enough to the nerves to cause her any discomfort.
Her daughter Lucy, who looks a lot like her mom, found both of the broken tooth bits in the dirt beneath the grill. Thank heavens. Since I’ve got a group of teenage boys with me, I brought a dozen pint-sized bottles of whole milk. I let Cam drain it partway before dropping the small tooth bits into the bottle and marking it with a sharpie. Don’t drink. Ashley’s cute little teeth nubs are in here.
The rest of the evening didn’t quite go the way I’d have liked. Ashley was the shiny new toy who every unspoken-for man gravitated toward. Sure, all of us here are single, but there are a handful of dating couples who occasionally come to the events together. It’s nice since it gives the rest of us hope.
I had plenty of female company myself, which was good since Cam, Parker, and Jack were treating the night like it was a hookup meet for them, too. When they invited Ashley’s daughter Lucy to join them, they told her brother, who’s slightly younger, to join too. That was a relief. I’d hate to see the kid left out.
I hope Callie really shows up tomorrow. She and Link are supposed to be here by noon so they can go tubing with us. I hope that if they do show up in time to come, that they’ll enjoy it. And that Cam will, too.
I stifle a groan, hating how many things in their lives are out of my control. I just have to sit back and watch them navigate things the way they want to. It’s uncomfortable and borderline scary.
At last, my mind drifts back to Ashley. Hopefully, tomorrow we’ll have a chance to talk more and catch up. In one sense, I feel like we have unfinished business. Like there were so many things left unsaid. But then I remember that I said everything I wanted to say. In texts, messages, a handwritten letter, and an unexpected visit during her bachelorette party.
What remains left unsaid, from my perspective, anyway, is her side of things.
I allow my eyes to close and wonder if I’ll actually get some sleep tonight. I’m exhausted, so it’s not totally off the table, even if I do prefer my bed more the older I get.
I inhale deeply, hold my breath for a beat, and release it nice and slow, lifting a prayer of gratitude as I do. I have a lot to be thankful for. Cam is here with me, and Callie’s coming too. Gabrielle, bless her, agreed to watch Fifi while we were gone, specifying, unnecessarily, that she was doing it for Cam and not for me.
I drift into a deeper state of relaxation, and my thoughts go right back to Ashley. If I’m lucky, I’ll dream about her tonight.
I’m just on the cusp of sleep when I hear a tent zipper going up and then down. My eyes flick open because it seems to be coming from the direction of our tent. Hopefully, it’s not Nellie trying to sneak out here to get fresh with me; I’m one of the few men in the group she hasn’t at least made out with.
“Do we really have to go all the way up to those bathrooms?” asks one voice in a whisper.
“Yes, unless you want to squat in the woods and drip dry.”
I grin because I can tell the reply is from one of the moms to her daughter, maybe even Ashley it’s too dark, and she’s the one leading the way. And now that I think of it, we’ve been on this path for a long time. We should have already hit the campground by now.
“Are you sure you’re going the right way?” I ask, the thick branches seeming to cave in on me from either side.
“Yes, I’m sure,” she says, “I’m following the exact trail we came up.”
I keep walking, squinting to peer through the darkness, when a branch smacks me square in the face.
“Umph! Lucy…” I scold.
"Sorry. I didn't realize you were that close behind me." She keeps walking, and so do I, and soon another leafy branch whips across my neck. I shiver because who knows what kind of spiders are on the thing.
"Are you doing that on purpose?"
When she doesn't answer, I decide to fall back a few steps and keep my hands up to guard my face.
"Don't you think so?" Lucy says.
"Don't I think so… what ?" It's not a grammatically correct response, but I don't know what she's talking about, and she didn't answer my question about purposely smacking me in the face with branches, and, of course, I'm getting smacked in the face with branches.
"That the dad you used to date is cute."
I walk faster to catch up because we need to keep our whispering voices on. "Well, he wasn’t a dad when I was dating him, but yes, Liam is a good-looking guy." There, end of topic.
“I know he wasn’t a dad when you were dating him, sheesh . And, not like I would be attracted to him or anything, but for somebody your age, he's really cute. He looks like he could be an actor. And he's really ripped. I didn't think guys that age still worked out."
The volume of her voice has risen and we’ve got to be getting too close to camp for this conversation.
"Hey, Lucy," I say, hoping to break the cycle of her thoughts. I bring my voice down to a whisper and pray she’ll follow suit. “Let's not talk about it anymore because we’re getting too close to camp."
"You know what?” Lucy replies. “I actually don’t think we are. You were probably right. I think we are going the wrong way.”
Our detour takes so long that I fear I'll have to go to the bathroom again by the time we get back to camp. Luckily, Lucy lets the topic of Liam die.
She wasn’t wrong, though. Liam Wheaton is gorgeous, and he’s taken very good care of that impressively chiseled body of his.
Back at camp, beside the dim light of the dying bonfire, I catch the outline of a man—a mere silhouette, really, but I know exactly who it is.
I freeze, which is bad because, since I chose to lead the way—Lucy smacks into me from behind.
"Sorry," I whisper blurt.
"Why’d you stop—” When she doesn’t finish her sentence, I realize Lucy sees him too. She tips her chin up. "Oh… I know why you stopped.” Sure, she’s whispering, but it’s definitely loud enough for him to hear, which sucks because there’s something very accusatory in her tone.
Liam gives us a casual wave of acknowledgment. "Evening, ladies," he says, sounding and looking like a cowboy starring in an old western. He’s a lumberjack, a cowboy, a divorced father of two…I’ll take all three, please.
"Hi,” I say with a wave.
Lucy drags her one-syllable greeting of ‘hey’ into three full syllables, which also sounds accusing.
But the changed woman in me wants to seize this opportunity before it slips. I want to have Liam Wheaton all to myself without the doting trail of hopefuls at his heels.
And on a night like this, under the moon and stars, the setting is like a dream.
I cannot believe I’m about to do this because Lucy has zero chill factor despite the fact that she's the one who taught me that term. But the fact is, Lucy has been encouraging me to date since we moved back here. Behind closed doors, she’d be pleading with me to do this very thing, so I know she’ll approve.
That doesn’t mean she won’t embarrass me, though.
"You know what?” I say in a whisper. “Why don’t you go on in. I think I'll go sit by the fire for a minute.”
Lucy’s eyes double in size, and I swear she hides a gasp.
Please don’t embarrass me.
"Okay," she whispers sweetly and then kisses my cheek.
Relief floods me as I realize she does know how to channel the chill factor after all. Yet just before she steps away, Lucy whispers one more thing very close to my ear.
“You go , Mom."
A rush of adrenaline blasts through me at the sentiment. I guess I’m actually doing this.
Lucy heads back into the tent while I bravely head to the firepit, nerves hot and prickly beneath my skin.
Liam drags a log closer to himself and gives the seat a good pat.
“So,” he says as I round the back of the log. “How’s the teen-parent gig going for you?"
The question earns an unexpected laugh, and just like that, my nerves give way to a blessed sense of camaraderie. All these years that separate seem to dissipate as we acknowledge a common experience. An experience I don't take lightly, and, judging by his obviously well-mannered son, I gather Liam doesn't take it lightly either.
The toes of my sneakers graze the empty log, but I don't sit down. Instead, I nod in the direction behind me. “Elijah was telling me about a lookout point up the hill from the parking lot.”
"Hmm, I knew there was a reason I didn’t like Elijah,” Liam teases. The grin on his lips owns the jealous remark, and I can't help but revel in it.
"Want to check it out so we can talk? Without our kids spying on us, I mean."
Liam comes to his feet and glances over each shoulder in turn. “I must've done something right in my life,” he mumbles as he shoves his hands in his pockets.
We head the way Lucy and I just came, and I decide to take the bait regarding his remark. "How do you figure?"
He rolls his shoulders back and leans in my direction. "Ashley Chen just invited me to Lookout Point."
I grin and stifle a laugh. "Don't get too excited, Sparky. Don't you watch mystery documentaries with your kids?"
"In fact, I do," he says.
"So you know that only one of two things happens at Lookout Point. Either a make out or take out—as in murder ." I drag the word out in a threatening, low growl.
Liam stops in his tracks and glances at me. “So my chances are fifty, fifty, huh? Those are pretty good odds."
My tummy tightens with warmth and delight. We’re not teenagers anymore, but it sure feels like I’ve stepped back into that territory with the building thrill of anticipation.
I consider the video clip that literally changed my mindset overnight. I still have a list of things to accomplish, but even if this was just it—getting this moment with Liam Wheaton under the stars—it’d be a win.
Of course, it’s not how things used to be when chemistry reigned, and reason went out the window. We’re both parents now, we both have complicated pasts, and there is no telling if the chemistry we once had will return full force or fade with the rising sun.
But even at that, I can’t wait to find out.